China steps up policy support to boost university graduate employment

China has introduced a series of measures to boost employment opportunities for the 2024 university graduates, including broadening channels and enhancing services.

The initiatives come as China's projected number of university graduates in 2024 is expected to reach 11.79 million, an increase of 210,000 from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Education.

To support this influx, universities are encouraged to fully utilize campus recruitment as one of the primary channels, actively inviting employers for on-campus hiring activities, according to guidelines from the Ministry of Education. Also, university departments are advised to organize targeted, specialized and small-scale recruitment events.

"Since October, I've participated in four campus recruitment sessions for the fall semester," said Xing Yu, a student at Anhui University of Technology who is set to graduate in 2024.

"Most of them were online due to my limited time, as I was also preparing for the civil service exam during that period," she explained.

Xing Yu typically finds job information through updates on her school's official website, official company accounts on WeChat and various online recruitment platforms.

"I'm considering attending the in-person campus recruitment events next spring," she added.

To further assist graduates like Xing Yu, universities are advised to tailor their efforts to match the job preferences of graduates, providing high-quality career support and comprehensive information. The integration of courses focused on career development and employment guidance into the curriculum as mandatory, credit-bearing subjects is also recommended.

To further enhance employment prospects, university leaders are required to increase engagement with companies through visits. Such direct interactions are aimed at understanding the specific talent needs of industry enterprises, ensuring a precise match between supply and demand, and securing more job opportunities for students.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are also playing a role, which are encouraged to recruit more college graduates. Local education departments are collaborating with local authorities to implement supportive policies such as employment subsidies, social insurance subsidies and tax breaks, aiding these enterprises in providing suitable job opportunities for graduates.

Moreover, university students are motivated to consider entrepreneurship. China is implementing policies to support entrepreneurial ventures, offering advantages in funding and venue access to graduate entrepreneurs and providing services for the incubation and transformation of innovative projects. Additionally, students are encouraged to explore flexible employment opportunities in sectors such as the creative economy, digital economy and platform economy.

Parallel to these efforts, the guidelines suggest that local governments stabilize and slightly expand the recruitment scale for university graduates in government roles, public institutions and state-owned enterprises.

Local authorities are further urged to improve their incentive systems and introduce more local preferential policies. These measures aim to attract more graduates to find jobs and start businesses in central and western regions, northeastern regions, rural areas and communities, thereby balancing regional development and providing diverse opportunities for the growing number of graduates.